Functionalist & Conflict Perspectives in Sociology

1. Reading Assignment
 The Sociological Perspective pg.14-17
 Origins of Sociology pg.18-26
 Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology
pg. 34-40

2. Chapter Review Questions
1. Define Sociology
2. Define Society
3. What is Social Location?
4. Describe the Sociological Perspective.
5. How does the sociological perspective and social location shape personal
worldview
6. Who is the father of Sociology?
7. What is Positivism?
8. What are the three major social changes that led to the development of
Sociology as a discipline?
9. Why is the industrial revolution so pivotal in the development of
Sociology?
10. Differentiate between the macro and micro levels of sociological analysis
11. Who is Karl Marx and why is he relevant to Sociology
12. Differentiate between social conflict theory, functionalism and symbolic
interaction theory.

3. Theoretical Perspectives
A theory is a general statement about how
some parts of the world fit together and how
they work. It is an explanation of how two or
more facts are related. By providing a
framework in which to fit observations, each
theory interprets reality in a unique way.

4. What is a Sociological Perspective?
 Tool for analyzing social life.
 Level of analysis
• Macro
• Micro
 Three major perspectives in Sociology
• Functionalist Perspective
• Conflict Perspective
• Symbolic Interaction Perspective

5. Macro vs. Micro
 Macro – functionalists & conflict
theorists focus on large scale
patterns
 Micro – symbolic interactionist
focus on what people do in each
other’s presence

6. Structural
Functionalism
• Examines how social
structures function to
meet social needs
• Asks the question:
“what structures
exist, and are they
functioning properly?”

7. Functionalist Perspective
 Vision of Society
• A system of interrelated parts that function
or operate together harmoniously.
• Organism
• Social System

8.  Society is viewed as
very similar to the
human body.
• Each part meets a
need in order to
maintain a normal
state of balance.
• Organs are viewed as
similar to social
systems.
Organism

9. Social Systems
 Interdependent
network of social
institutions (family,
school, business,
religion, etc.) that
shape our lives.
 Social systems
contribute to the
stability of society.
 Equilibrium
 Disequilibrium

10. HERBERT SPENCER (1820-1903)
 Contributed an evolutionary perspective on
social order and social change.
 Social Darwinism
 The belief that the human beings best
adapted to their environment survive and
prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die
out.
 Coined the term “survival of the fittest.”

11. EMILE DURKHEIM (1858-1917)
 Believed the limits of human potential
are socially based.
 One of his most important contributions
was the concept of social facts.
 Social facts are patterned ways of acting,
thinking, and feeling that exist outside any
one individual but exert social control over
each person.

13. █ Emphasizes the way parts of a society are
structured to maintain its stability
TALCOTT PARSONS (1902-1972)
– Viewed society as vast network of
connected parts
– Each helps maintain the system as a whole
Module 3

14. ROBERT K. MERTON (1910–2003)
 Manifest Functions
 The recognized and intended consequences of
any social pattern
 Latent Functions
 The unrecognized and unintended
consequences of any social pattern
 Social Dysfunction
 Any social pattern that might disrupt the
operation of society

15. STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALIST
PERSPECTIVE
 Social life depends on
consensus and
cooperation. Conflict
is socially destructive.
 Changes tend to
disrupt social life,
setting things off
balance.

16. ▪ CRITICAL REVIEW
▪ Main idea of the structural-functional
approach is its vision of society as stable
and orderly
▪ Main goal of sociologists who use this
approach is to figure out “what makes
society tick”

17. 17
Various
groups are in
conflict to
compete
for
limited
resources,
control, or
authority.
Dominate
Groups
Subordinate
Groups
Wealth, Power, Prestige
Resources, Control, Authority
Power Struggle
What is Conflict Theory?

18. What is Conflict Theory?
 Conflict theory generally surrounds the idea
that most struggles in society happen
because of conflicts between different social
classes or groups
 Each group struggles to attain more
resources and because resources are scarce,
they must struggle with other groups
 Groups try to protect their own interests,
therefore blocking the progress of other
groups

19. Major Proposition of Conflict
Theories
 Society is not a system in equilibrium but a nebulous structure
of imperfectly coordinated elements
 Every society experiences at every moment social conflict
 Every element in a society contributes to its change
 Every society rests on constrain of some of its members by
others
 Social universe is the setting within which the conflict of life are
acted out

20. Karl Marx (1818-1883)
“There must be something
rotten in the very core of a
social system which increases
in wealth without diminishing
its misery, and increases in
crime even more than its
numbers.”
Marx, K. (1859). Population,
crime and pauperism.Collected
Works, (16).

21.  Society
 Is composed of have and have-nots, rulers
and ruled.
 Laws
 Reflect the interests of the dominant class.
 Capitalism
 Encourages egoism and criminality by
equating status with property.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

22.  Means of production
Everything, except human labor, that is used
to produce wealth.
 Bourgeoisie
Marx’s name for the class made up of those
who own the means of production; the
employer or owner class.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

23.  Proletariat
The name that Marx applied to the class
made up of those who do not own the means
of production; the employee or working class.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

24.  Class consciousness
The concept Marx used to identify the
awareness of members of a class of their
class interests and enemies.
 False consciousness (ideological control)
where the masses, or proletariat are deluded
into thinking that everything is fine and that
the appalling in which they live and work are
inevitable.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

25.  Punishment
 Only crimes of the poor are punished.
 Economic inequality
 Intensifies personal problems and crime.
 Crime
 Will virtually disappear with equal
distribution of property.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

26.  The justice system operates to
protect the rich and powerful by:
 how crimes are defined.
 how laws are enforced.
 how law-breakers are punished.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

27.  Power relations
 Conflict is rooted in the
competition for power.
 Power provides the means to
influence public opinion for
private gain.
 Those in power use the law
to criminalize those without
power (e.g. minority groups).
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

28. Conclusion
 A major change in course in sociology
 From consensus to conflict
 Away from functional thought
 But perhaps too much emphasis on
conflict

29. Conflict as a Binding
Element
 We often mistake conflict as always being a dividing
factor, it can instead have quite the opposite reaction
 When two groups are pitted against one another, the
bonds between members of each group within itself
become much closer
 Violence can also point out problems that might not
be obvious
Violence can bring about public activism and force change
through public attitudes

30. ▪ CRITICAL REVIEW
▪ Ignores how shared values and
interdependence can unify members of a
society
▪ Politically, social-conflict cannot claim
scientific objectivity
▪ Both the functional and conflict approaches
paint society in broad strokes